Some old Ramsgate photos, black and white this time, a sad tale of Herne Bay clock tower and another look at the Turner exhibition at Turner Contemporary in Margate, in fact just another Ramble

My bookshop in Ramsgate is closed on Thursdays and I went to various places to look at books, some of which I bought, having been to Tankerton I then went on to Herne Bay and heading back to the car along the seafront the main focal point is the clock tower.

I am often conscious of two things looking at this clock tower, one is that it is one of my favourite structures in the area and the other is the way it has been rubbished by architectural experts.

Does this mean I just don’t have good taste? To me it seems well proportioned, I particularly like the way the central cylinder continues up through it.

I have painted it several times and honestly all I can think on the subject of it’s design is how difficult it is to sketch without the cylindrical centre getting out of line.

Here is what it has to say about it in the main Kent architectural guide:- “By Edwin F. Dangerfield, 1837. Portland stone tower of four stages, raised on seven steps. The inept design is instructive: the classical vocabulary thus debased was ripe for attack. Square round stage, with Greek Doric columns in threes at corners: then a stage with Corinthian columns in the same scale, which means that they look absurdly big. After that Mr Dangerfield hurriedly finished off with a pedimented cube and an octagonal domed top.”

Anyway today I noticed this metal plaque on the side and now I look at it completely differently.

I finished up in Margate where I bought more books and then headed off to Turner Contemporary art gallery, the exhibition of JWM Turner’s paintings there at the moment is just completely overwhelming. So having been overwhelmed I sat in the gallery’s café and sketched for a bit, apologies to any victims, but isn’t life is like that.

Finally on to the photos of Ramsgate 

 Note dredger Hope